Premature birth could increase the risk of mental health problems in l...

Premature birth could increase the risk of mental health problems in later life, say researchers

June 8th, 2012

New research has suggested that it’s possible being born prematurely could increase the risk of various mental health problems at a later stage.

Experts at theInstitute of Psychiatry at King’s College London and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden looked at data collected from around 1.3m individuals born in Sweden between 1973 and 1985.

What the researchers found when analysing the data, was that of 10,523 of those involved in the study who were admitted to hospital with psychiatric disorders, 580 had been born prematurely – a significant proportion.

Whilst the overall risk of psychiatric problems remained fairly low, the risk appeared higher in premature babies.

Though these findings are indeed interesting and warrant further investigation, experts have said that there have since been huge advances in the care of premature babies, and that neonatal clinical practice has been transformed since the seventies meaning we are now seeing consistently improving outcomes.

Experts have said they don’t think parents should worry about this, but if further studies support these findings then increased vulnerability may become something that parents should be aware of so that they can monitor and detect early warning signs.